Solid waste trash grinder

ABSTRACT

In a solid-waste chopper, the rotary cutter is fixed and the companion bed cutter is held against a fixed stop by tie rods which under excessive stress from a prohibitive shock load on the chopping cutters will fracture. For interlocking the bed cutter with the fixed stop in normal chopper operation, lock rods transverse to the tie rods extend fittingly through the bed cutter and into abutting frame plates, with these lock rods being sheared at the frame plates under excessive burning stress in the tie rods to thereby release the bed cutter for giving way to a prohibitive shock on the chopping cutters to avoid damage to the latter or to other structure of the chopper. This invention relates to solid-waste choppers in general, and to choppers with companion rotary and fixed cutters in particular.

SOLID WASTE TRASH GRINDER In solid-waste choppers, there occur two forces; vibration and sudden shock impacts, which may break and shatter the cutters. When the chopper is working with sharp cutters in a close cutter setting, the rotary cutter sets up a continued series of short quick little cutting blows. The machine sounds like a light chatter. These cutting blows are the basic start of vibrations. When the cutters become dull, resulting in the cutter settings or clearances becoming larger, the machine begins to have a sharp, shrill noise, with ever increasing intensity and pitch. Then these vibration shocks, become pounding shocks, and will increase to a very large degree and even suddenly approach damaging proportions when the cutters encounter chopping resistance of exceptionally high magnitude.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a solid-waste chopper of which the vital operation, including cutter, elements are safeguarded against damage under any chopping resistance encountered by the cutters.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a solid-waste chopper in which the aforementioned safeguard against damage to the vital opera tional chopper elements under any, and even exceptionally high, chopping resistance encountered by the cutters is in the form of readily replaceable holding elements in the support structure of the bed cutter which are arranged and calculated to break under a neardangerous shock load on the cutters and thereby release the bed cutter in its support structure for safe give away from the rotary cutter.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a solid-waste chopper in which the aforementioned holding elements in the support structure of the bed cutter are arranged in two sets, of which those of one set are tie rods which hold the bed cutter in mere stress abutment with the support structure so as to fracture, and thereby release the bed cutter for safe give away from the rotary cutter, under a near-dangerous shock load on the cutters, and the elements of the other set are lock rods which act in the manner of shear pins that positively interlock the bed cutter with the supporting structure and, hence, also with the rotary cutter in accurate gap relation therewith for optimum chopping performance of the cutters, but will be shorn by the dominant force in the tie rods when responding to and suddenly fracturing under a near-dangerous shock load on the cutters.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a solid-waste chopper embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section through the chopper taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings,

Number l is the rotary cutter. Number I5 represents the bed cutter. Number 2 represents one of a pair of bearings for the rotary cutter. Numbers 5 and 6 are side plates which in this instance are part of a machine frame F. Numbers 7 and 8 are part of the frame plates 5 and 6, and form the base support of the pair of bearings 2. Number 9 and number 10 are end plates. End plate 9 is loose and unattached to the frame F, while end plate No. l() is in this instance part of the frame F. Number 24 designates the base of the frame F. The elements 5-6-7-8-10-24 are thus all parts of the exemplary frame F. Long rods 11-12-13 -14, passing through plates 9 and 10, are threaded on each end, so nuts can bolt plate 9 and 10 together. These long rods are designed so that when the pressure of shock loads at the cutters from chopping solid waste exceed a designated pound pressure figure, they will break or facture and release bed cutter 15, which will be pushed backwards and away from the rotary cutter 1, by the pressure shock. Such action is a safety feature to help minimize damage to cutters. In the breaking of these long rods, it is possible enough force could be generated, to eject the long rods like bullets. The bed cutter 15 is a solid steel block with a chopping knife 16 thereon that cooperates with chopping knives 16 on a drum of the rotary cutter 1.

Block 15 is, by the tightened tie rods or bars 11-12 -13-14 held in firm engagement with a stop in the form of a block 17 which-may be part of the frame YF, with the stop 17 holding the block 15 with its cutter 16 in proper cutting relation with the fly cutters 16'. Cross or lock rods 18, a'nd 19, threaded on both ends for bolting by nuts, help to secure and hold bed cutter block 15, steady and in position. When particular severe collision impact occurs, at the cutters due to prohibitively high resistance in chopping solid waste, such as an exceptionally large or hard metal piece, for example, at which the tie rods 11-12-13-14 will fracture, the locks rods 18 will be broken when block 15 is forced away from the the rotary cutter 1 on fracture of the tie rods 1 1-12-13-14. To this end, the abutting or nearly abutting bed cutter block 15 and frame side plates 5 and 6 are preferably provided with steel inserts 73 which under these conditions shear the lock rods 18 and 19 (see also FIG. 3).

I claim:

1. A solid-waste chopper, comprising a frame, companion rotary and bed cutters, of which the rotary cutter is mounted on said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, and said bed cutter has opposite sides and is supported on said frame for longitudinal movement in a direction normal to said axis toward and away from chopping relation with said rotary cutter, with said frame having opposite walls-in substantial abutment with said cutter sides, and said bed cutter and frame walls having aligned apertures transversely of said direction, a stop on said frame between said cutters adapted to be engaged by said bed cutter in a normal position in which the same is in chopping relation with said rotary cutter and from which it is retractible in said direction away from said rotary cutter, tie rods extending in said direction between, and having ends secured to, said frame and bed cutter and responding in tension to forces tending to retract said bed cutter from said stop, and lock rods extending through said apertures in said bed cutter and into said apentures in said frame walls and being shorn at said abutting cutter sides and frame walls on fracture of said tie rods under excessive retracting forces on said bed cutter.

2. A solid-waste chopper as in claim l, in which said bed cutter is a solid block carrying a first chopping knife, and said rotary cutter is a drum carrying a pluralplate and second frame wall to hold said plate in tight engagement with said block to thereby hold the latter against said stop.

4. A solid-waste chopper as in claim 2, which further provides apertured steel inserts in said block sides und frame walls for shearing said lock rods.

i i i i k 

1. A solid-waste chopper, comprising a frame, companion rotary and bed cutters, of which the rotary cutter is mounted on said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, and said bed cutter has opposite sides and is supported on said frame for longitudinal movement in a direction normal to said axis toward and away from chopping relation with said rotary cutter, with said frame having opposite walls in substantial abutment with said cutter sides, and said bed cutter and frame walls having aligned apertures transversely of said direction, a stop on said frame between said cutters adapted to be engaged by said bed cutter in a normal position in which the same is in chopping relation with said rotary cutter and from which it is retractible in said direction away from said rotary cutter, tie rods extending in said direction between, and having ends secured to, said frame and bed cutter and responding in tension to forces tending to retract said bed cutter from said stop, aNd lock rods extending through said apertures in said bed cutter and into said apertures in said frame walls and being shorn at said abutting cutter sides and frame walls on fracture of said tie rods under excessive retracting forces on said bed cutter.
 2. A solid-waste chopper as in claim 1, in which said bed cutter is a solid block carrying a first chopping knife, and said rotary cutter is a drum carrying a plurality of chopping knives in chopping relation with said first knife, with said block being movably supported on said frame and having said cutter sides and transverse apertures.
 3. A solid-waste chopper as in claim 2, in which said frame provides a second wall, and there is further provided a plate, with said tie rods being bolted to said plate and second frame wall to hold said plate in tight engagement with said block to thereby hold the latter against said stop.
 4. A solid-waste chopper as in claim 2, which further provides apertured steel inserts in said block sides and frame walls for shearing said lock rods. 